French winemaker to host dinners, share wine
ASHEVILLE – What was your family doing 12 generations ago? Anne Parent knows because, well, she's doing the same thing.
Parent, a 12th-generation winemaker at Domaine Parent in Pommard, France, will be in town the first week of November. She'll share her wines, including the limited Premier Cru wines.
Parent will be at The Market Place on Nov. 6 for a Burgundian soirée and at Gabrielle's at The Richmond Hill Inn on Nov. 7. Call The Market Place at 252-4162 or Gabrielle's at 252-7313.
We sent her some questions via e-mail in France before her arrival. Here's what she had to say about her connection to a Founding Father, the Asheville scene and what's changed at her winery over the course of a dozen generations.
Question: Where does your family's passion for wine come from?
Answer: This is what we know how to do. As a 12th-generation winemaker, my family has been passionate about wine for hundreds of years. We were fortunate enough to have exceptional terroir in which to grow grapes. And then we are also fortunate that people all over the world respect the quality of our wines and want to buy them. It's easy to be passionate about wine given our situation.
Q:Tell me about your family's connection to Thomas Jefferson.
A: Briefly, my ancestor Etienne Parent was the personal friend, wine adviser and confidant to President Jefferson, especially when he was ambassador to France. He enjoyed our wines and took them back to America. He also took cuttings from our vines to plant at Monticello. There is much documented correspondence between the two of them.
Q: How do you maintain consistent quality over the generations? How has the operation and the product changed?
A: Quality is passed down from generation to generation. We teach the next generation our way of doing things. Before my father, most of the wine was sold in bulk. Now, all of our wine is sold in bottles. We have learned to only use environmentally friendly methods. We respect the use of oak but do not use it to change the character of the grape or the terroir (as expressed in the grape). We are not interested in chasing rating points from wine critics. We are interested in making quality wines. This approach seems to work well.
Q: How would you characterize the Asheville wine scene?
A: I have been in Asheville only once before, when I visited Steve (wine distributer Steve Pignatiello) in 2004. I was surprised by the quality of the restaurants that I visited. Specifically, I remember The Market Place restaurant and Horizons at the Grove Park Inn. Also, I remember The Wine Guy as having a creative way to characterize my (and all their) wines to make them more understandable to the customer. I am looking forward to my second visit to Asheville. Steve does an excellent job with my wines, and it is always interesting to see who has them in their restaurants and wine stores.
Q: How can you continue to compete with these new emerging wine markets, such as local North Carolina wines?
A: There is more and more quality wine in the world. And people have more and more choices. Fortunately, in Burgundy, we are recognized by worldwide wine authorities to have some of the best terroir in which to grow grapes. And our wines are recognized as extremely high-quality products. Plus, since Burgundy is so tiny, we can only make a very small amount of wine. The demand for our wine usually outstrips the supply. We are in a somewhat unique and very fortunate situation.